Unconditionally
by ttfan111robstar1
Summary: After the events of Apprentice Part Two, Robin goes to make peace with Batman, and is reminded of his father's unconditional love.


It was a moment, suspended in time.

In the black, starless night of Gotham City, on the rooftops of crumbling buildings, a superhero and former protégé stood face to face with one another. To spectators watching who did not know them, it might have looked emotionless. Batman and Robin were very emotionless people, after all. Yet, if one looked closely, they could see the surprise in the slight raise of Batman's cowl, and the worry in Robin's lightly trembling mouth. The two of them, staring at one another in silent tableau, lasted only a moment, before Robin rushed to Batman and gave him the biggest hug he could.

To the surprise of anyone that may have seen them, Batman did not pull away or rebuff him. Instead, he wrapped his own arms around his former partner in a sheltering embrace. He could feel Robin trembling against him, and was very aware that he needed this right now. He needed Bruce Wayne more than Batman at the moment- he could tell that too.

Batman motioned Robin over to the Batmobile, and he hopped in without hesitation, trying to draw himself together. Bruce set the Batmobile's autopilot to take them back to the Bat Cave, and he looked at his son, who was clearly shaken up. He was visibly trembling in the passenger's seat, and looked, even with his mask on, to be a hair's breadth from crying. Batman knew he needed to get his ward home, the home which he'd abandoned some time ago for Jump City.

Mercifully, the Bat Cave wasn't far from where they had been in the city, and they were back in no time. As soon as the Batmobile stopped, Batman hopped out, removed his cowl, and went to his son. Robin got out of the car, removed his mask, and promptly threw himself at his adoptive father, sobbing.

Bruce knew why he had come here. He'd seen the security footage from the top of Wayne Enterprises and watched his son battle his friends and steal from his father. The question now was why, though judging by his son's dramatic reaction, it had to be severe. A breaking point had to have been reached for his son to be this upset.

"Da-ddy. Da-addy." The words were so small, so broken, that Bruce was taken back to when Dick had first come to the manor and spent nights crying for his parents. For a moment, all of the history and arguments between them seemed to vanish into thin air, and Bruce was comforting that distraught nine year old child he'd taken in from a terrifying nightmare.

"It's alright, Dickie. I'm right here." He promised.

When Bruce said that, the floodgates opened, and Dick began babbling in his native tongue with his fear.

"Tati, îmi pare rău! Nu am vrut să fac asta! Nu am vrut să! El m-a făcut! Nu am vrut să o fac, dar nu am avut de ales sau mi-ar fi ucis prietenii! Vă rog, nu vă supărați pe mine!" It was blurted out so quickly that Bruce couldn't make out anything but the first word, which meant Daddy.

"English, Dick." Bruce reminded. He hadn't had to say that in nearly five years, and it was yet another blast from the past. "Tell me, slowly, in English, what you're trying to say."

"Daddy, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! I didn't want to! He made me! I didn't want to do it but I had no choice or he would have killed my friends! Please don't be mad at me!" It was somewhere between a whine and a whimper.

Bruce didn't have to ask what his son was sorry for, but the "he" interested him.

"Calm down, Dickie Bird. I'm not mad at you." Bruce tried to soothe him. "I'm really not, I promise. I know you wouldn't have done something like that unless you had no other choice." It was true. He may not have been on the best of terms with his son, but he knew Dick would never go that far unless someone was at risk. Dick's words had proven that theory true. But there was another question that still needed answering. After a moment, he spoke again. "Who is 'he', Dickie?" Bruce asked.

The question made his son begin to tremble again, so he decided on a different course of action for the moment. He would get more information from his son after he was calmed down.

"Come on, let's go upstairs and talk. Alfred can make you some warm milk. Would you like that?"

He felt Dick nod into his chest.

"Okay. Let's go." He said, gently. Dick staggered to his feet, and Bruce held his hand to help him up. To his surprise, Dick didn't let it go as they headed to the house from the Bat Cave.

Alfred Pennyworth looked surprised to see his master back from patrol so early, but once he saw his young master Dick next to him, it made sense.

Dick only let go long enough to hug Alfred, and then had Bruce's hand right back in a vice grip.

"Alfred, can you bring a glass of warm milk to my room?"

"Of course, Master Bruce." He said.

Bruce ushered Dick down the long hallways of the mansion into his bedroom, sitting down on his bed that was seemingly big as an ocean. Dick hopped up on his lap, wrapped his arms around his neck, and buried his face in his father's shoulder. Bruce acted on instinct, and rubbed his back.

"It's alright, Dick. I'm here now. You're okay." The stream of comforting words seemed to do the trick and Dick relaxed into him.

They sat interconnected that way for a long time. It was the first time in years Bruce had been able to hold his son that way and he savored it for all it was worth. In all the fighting and arguments between them near the end of his time here in Gotham, he had missed this sorely. He just hadn't realized how much until now. The only interruption came when Alfred delivered the glass of warm milk, then made an exit. He sensed the two of them needed to talk.

Dick drank a bit of his milk, and then Bruce spoke again.

"Can you talk to me now, Dick?" He asked softly, cautiously.

Dick nodded. "Yeah. I… Sorry about that. I-"

"Don't be sorry. You were upset and needed to get it out of your system. I understand." Bruce didn't hesitate to correct that misconception. Dick was clearly distressed and it was better he express that than keep it pent up inside of him as Bruce would have.

Dick nodded. "Okay."

"Can you tell me who 'he' is, Dick?" Bruce was cautious with the question, fearing that Dick might clam up again.

It was not so. Dick took in a deep breath. "His name is Slade. He's… I guess you could say he's my Joker. Except he's methodical and precise with his plans where the Joker is more… Crazy."

"Okay. So what happened?"

"He…" Dick swallowed. "He blackmailed me into becoming his apprentice. He set up an entire fake scheme so he could infect my friends with nanoscopic probes, and if I didn't do what he said, then he could kill them instantly."

Bruce took a moment to process that information. "And he made you steal from me." It was a statement, not a question.

"For the technology, I think. I don't think he knows who you are. He doesn't even know who I am." Dick said quickly, trying to quell the fear of his father's secret identity being breached.

Bruce visibly relaxed at that, then continued. "So how did you escape?"

"I outsmarted him and infected myself. One of my teammates got all of the probes out of us afterward. I'm okay, at least where that's concerned."

"But you're not okay otherwise." That Bruce was sure of.

Dick shook his head, not bothering to hide it. "No. The way he got inside of my head, the way he played me… I can't stop thinking about it. And what he said… That's why I came here. I needed you."

"What did he say, Dick?"

"He said: "Who knows? I may even become like a father to you?". When he said that… I just… I was angry, and I told him I already have a father, but I started thinking about it, and I got scared. I mean, I knew you would know I stole from you, and I just wondered if that would have been the last straw for you. After all the arguments and all the fighting, I thought that maybe… Maybe it was too late for you to forgive me, and maybe… Maybe you wouldn't want me anymore."

"Dick…" The word came out stunned.

"I'm sorry, Bruce. I'm sorry for all the fights we had and for leaving here on bad terms. I was mad. I didn't want to be in your shadow. But I don't want to lose you either. And to think that I had, even for a second, was just… Too much to take." Dick said softly.

Bruce had waited for this apology, even dreamed of it in the days when he and Dick had been at war, but now it was tainted by the circumstances surrounding it. He held his son in a tight embrace.

"You'll never lose me, Dick. You can't lose me. And I'm sorry, too. I didn't ever think of you as being in my shadow. You have always been my partner, even when I didn't act like it."

"Then why…?"

Bruce sighed. "It's hard."

"What is?"

"Letting go." The words were very soft. "When you first came to this house I swore that I would protect you and be whatever you needed. You needed me to comfort you, protect you, hold you, and be the closest thing to a parent you could get. When you started training as Robin, I knew you were ready to do it, and there was no way I was going to be able to stop you from it. I'd be a hypocrite if I had tried to stop you from doing the only thing that has given me any semblance of peace after my parents were killed. But even though you started and you were ready to be more than a sidekick… I wasn't ready. I wasn't ready to let you go and stop protecting you, even when I knew you didn't need it anymore, because it felt like… It felt like you wouldn't need _me_ anymore."

Dick was dumbstruck to say the least. That was more emotion in one conversation than he'd thought Bruce could have showed in a lifetime. When he recovered himself, he spoke.

"I'll always need you. You're my Dad. Superhero or not, that won't change."

Bruce gave him a smile that was more than a bit relieved. "I see that now. And you'll always be my son, Dick. No matter how many fights we get into, that will never change."

The two of them shared another embrace. Dick finally allowed himself to relax when he pulled back.

"Remember when I used to come in here during a storm?" Dick asked.

Bruce nodded. "I used to hold you like this and sing to you until you calmed down and fell asleep."

"We shouldn't have stopped. I shouldn't have, I mean."

"None of that." He chided softly. "You grew up. It happens."

"But when I did I forgot how it felt to be a son. That shouldn't have happened."

"You didn't forget, Dick. You've never forgotten that. The only reason you felt so free to fight with me was because of how strong our relationship is. But those fights don't matter. You were struggling to find your way outside of me and I was afraid to let go of you. There isn't any parent and child on the planet who haven't gone or won't go through the same thing. I knew you were sorry for those fights a long time ago, and I want you to know that I was almost immediately after it happened. The only difference in our case is that we're too stubborn to admit to anything." He said, smirking a bit at the last sentence.

Dick laughed. It was half snort, half laugh, and full of relief. "That's true. If this hadn't happened I have to wonder if we'd ever admit half of this stuff to each other."

"I think we would." Bruce said, certain. "You would have come around far sooner than I would have."

"How do you know?" Dick questioned.

Bruce smiled. "Because I know you."

"Maybe not as well as you think if you think I can't out-stubborn you." Dick pointed out.

"No, Dick. I know you better than I know myself, because you're the best of me." Bruce said.

Dick swallowed thickly, surprised at the admission. "You're the best of me, too, Dad."

"I'm sorry if I ever made you feel like you weren't."

"No… You never made me feel like that."

Silence blanketed them for a period, comfortable as cashmere. It was a time for reflection, and rebuilding a relationship that had once seemed broken beyond repair. The absolution they had both craved from the other had been given, and it was warming to the both of them. Dick hadn't felt this good since before they went on their mission to find the chronaton detonator. He still loathed Slade with every fiber of his being, but without him, this reconciliation may have never occurred. It was something he hadn't known he needed.

After a while, Dick spoke. "Are you glad that I went out on my own?" He asked. It was a question that had weighed heavily on him since coming to Jump.

"I think you did what you needed to do for yourself. I won't lie and say I don't miss having you here, but I'm proud that you're taking care of yourself out there, and doing what matters to you."

"So… Yes?"

"Yes."

Dick smiled a little at that. "I missed you too."

Bruce smiled a bit sadly. "I don't think you did until… _He _made you think about me."

Dick shook his head. "That's not true. Even when I first got there… I knew something was missing. Now I know. It was leaving things on bad terms here. Even though I'm not your sidekick anymore, it didn't feel right to leave things like they were. I should have come here a long time ago."

"Regret is a two way street in this case, Dick. I could have come to see you a long time before now to smooth things over. It seems like it always takes a tragedy to make all of us realize what's important. It shouldn't be that way." Bruce shook his head.

"No… It shouldn't." Dick agreed softly. "Maybe… Maybe if we tried talking to each other better it wouldn't be that way. I'm willing to try if you are."

Bruce looked down at him, lips tipped up with the ghost of a smile. "Alright. It's a deal."

"Dad?"

"Yes, Dick?"

"Will you tell me a story like you used to?"

Bruce was mildly surprised, but acquiesced. "What story do you want to hear?"

"One about us. Something good."

Bruce pondered that for a minute. "Did I ever tell you about the first night you came in here? What that was like for me?"

Dick shook his head. "No. Tell me."

"I never really thought about what it would be like to have a kid in the house, being a "permanent bachelor" and all." The two of them shared a smirk at that. "But when you came to me that night and asked to sleep with me I couldn't say no. The room used to be my parents, and I remembered doing the same thing with them, but in all that time, I'd never once wondered how they felt when I came to them with a nightmare. But that day, I found out. It was… A lot of different emotions. It was frightening in one respect. To have somebody depending on you that way, to need you like that, is a scary thing, because you don't want to let them down. But at the same time, it was the most encouraging thing that had happened to me. I was worried for a long time that I wasn't saying or doing the right things for you. But when you came to me that night, I knew I had to be doing _something _right. I don't think I'd ever felt so… Needed, by somebody until that night. The trust you put in me to keep you safe was absolutely mind-blowing to me. I promised myself I would do whatever it took to protect you. When you fell asleep, I watched over you all night long. Didn't sleep a wink. I didn't want the moment to end. It was the first time I'd ever really became a parent in my own mind, and it was incredible."

Dick's eyes were wide at the admission. "How come you never told me that story?"

Bruce looked down at him. "You didn't ask. And I wasn't… I didn't know if you wanted to hear stories like that anymore after…" He didn't finish.

"You have more?"

Bruce blinked, then nodded. "I do."

"Can you tell me another one?"

Bruce thought on it. "I don't think I ever told you about some of the times you were in the hospital. What I did while you were unconscious, anyways."

Dick shook his head. "No. Will you tell me?"

Bruce nodded. "Those were the hardest parts of parenting. If we were in costume I had to scale back what I would have liked to do to just talking to you or holding your hand. But if you were _out _of costume, I did a lot more. I used to sing to you the way I did when you got scared during a storm, or I'd tell jokes hoping that you'd wake up and laugh. It was always the best feeling when you opened your eyes."

Dick smiled at that. "Really?"

Bruce nodded. "Whenever I had nightmares about you, I used to go to your room and watch you sleep for a while to calm myself down. After you left for Jump I told Alfred not to wash your pillowcase, because if I had nightmares about you I could go to your room, put my face in your pillow, and smell you so that I could pretend you were there with me. Stupid, huh?"

"No. It's not stupid at all. It's… Nice." He said softly. "So… What do I smell like?"

Bruce's smile was warm and true. "I always thought you smelled the way the earth does after it rains."

Dick returned the smile. "You know, I always thought you smelled like leather and moss."

"Moss?"

"Like the kind that grows on rocks or trees."

Bruce smiled. "Makes me think of when I used to take you to the park to burn off energy. You could run around for hours and never be tired. Sometimes it made me tired just watching you."

"Says the man who survives on three hours of sleep." Dick deadpanned.

Bruce smirked a little. "Fair point."

Dick let out a small sigh. "This was… Exactly what I needed. It was nice to just be… me and not be Robin for a while. I'm really glad I came."

Bruce pulled his son into a hug. "I'm glad you came too, Dick. You can come back whenever you want, alright? Don't ever be afraid to come to me. I'll always be here for you."

Dick pressed his father closer to him, trying to save the feeling for a rainy day. "I love you, Dad."

Bruce, in turn, pressed a kiss to his son's forehead. "I love you too, son."


End file.
